I miss Even Steven

Recently, I was in Target. By the Kleenex. I pulled something out of my purse, and I looked down, and there was a $5 bill in the floor.

Hmm.

Did I just drop that, or did someone else drop it? And not notice? But if they did, how on earth would they know, oh yeah, over in front of the Puffs Plus, that must be where I lost $5. Because in that case, they wouldn't have left it there. Right? Finally, I just decided to pick it up. Because it actually might have been mine.

Sidenote: Yes, I'm one of those people who frequently just leaves money loose in her purse. Also lipstick, and I have a bag for that, too. Because when you leave it loose, the cap comes off and your purse turns pink and sticky.

So, it was kind of cool in the end. I got $5. It might have been mine, or maybe not, but I felt OK about having it.

Wednesday, we drove back from Florida. I had about $16 in my purse, so I stopped at an ATM so we could stop at the aforementioned farm stand. I got a $20 bill at the ATM. I spent $22 at the farm stand. So I should have had about $14 left, right? Later, I bought two Diet Cokes at a convenience store. I had $2 left.

What happened to my other $10?? Remember the Seinfeld episode about even steven? And Jerry drops $20 out the window, and gets $20 in a few minutes from Kramer. Or something like that.

All I'm saying is, if I was $5 up before, wouldn't it have been more appropriate for me to lose $5? Couldn't the karmic forces of the universe have waited for me to change the $10 before seeking their retribution on me?

Oh well.

10 years in one small box

I've been cleaning up a lot around here lately, trying to make room for the fiance, who's moving here when we get married in late June. So far, I've cleaned off one shelf of a bookshelf [still!], sold my CD player and speakers, and gotten rid of a lot of miscellaneous junk that I don't really want him to replace with junk of his own. So not much real progress to speak of.

But I am very proud of this one thing. I had had a bunch of letters and cards in a corner of the utility room for quite some time. They used to be in a sack, which had fallen apart a long time ago. So I thought I'd sort through those and figure out what was worth keeping. I discovered that I'd already sorted through the vast majority of the pile a long time ago, and most of it was good stuff. So I found a nice box to put it in, and now it's all set. 10 years of correspondence in one box.

But [as you're probably aware], that wasn't the interesting part. I was so intrigued -- and saddened -- by the pattern I discovered. In the early to mid-90s, my friends and family and I wrote each other all the time. I found so many letters from high school and college friends in the years after graduation. Some were 3 or more pages, typewritten. Lots of thank-you notes from friends and family. And they started to taper off in the mid-1990s. By the time my daughter was born in 1999, I was down to practically nothing.

I attribute this to two things:

• Email
• Life

Both are pretty easy to understand -- we all started using email more and more. In fact, a lot of the later correspondence in my box consists of emails I printed out. But I think the fact that we CAN correspond for free anytime we want has led many of us to correspond far less often than we should.

And in the years since my daughter was born, many of my corresponding friends have also married and had children. These days, I'm lucky to find time to load the dishwasher. [Side note: I've had an awesome Mother's Day. It included 4 loads of laundry [3 are already folded and put away, go me!], 3 loads in the dishwasher [one more to go after this one], vacuuming, and a whole passel of cooking. And, some nice time with my kids. :) ]

So I'm resolving to send more notes. They are awfully nice to receive and have to reminisce over.

P.S. I will note, I have several family members and a couple of friends who are wonderful correspondents to this day. My aunt Linda hasn't ever missed my birthday, nor those of my children. And practically everyone I'm close with sends me a wonderful Christmas card every year. But that's all I've been doing myself. Mine are not even personalized any more. Sigh.

Diet Coke 1, Laura 0

So I'm on day 3 of going cold turkey on Diet Coke. I'd been drinking anywhere from 1-3 a day, but I've had just 1 in the last three days. I was thinking about having one tonight, but I think I've talked myself out of it.

My biggest DC habit was having an icy cold can every morning as I left the house. I knew this would be the hardest DC not to drink, so I wanted a new habit to replace that. The past couple mornings, I've made myself some tea to put in a bottle and take to work. Great idea....I haven't missed the Diet Coke at all.

This morning, I was in a hurry to get in the shower, so I poured the tea right into the bottle when it finished steeping. And closed the lid. Oops. I'm sure you know, as I should have, what happened next: The top exploded off the bottle and sprayed hot tea all over my hand. Good one.

It doesn't even hurt anymore. Much.

TGIF

So far today:

• I remembered to re-start the dryer at breakfast and my jeans were mostly dry when we got ready to go. Unfortunately, I'd let them sit damp too long and they need to be washed again.
• I wore another pair of jeans, which, while cute, I hate.
• They are too short with this pair of shoes. This pair of shoes is the best pair to wear when it rains, though.
• I think the 8yo was on time for school but frankly, I'm not certain. They get kind of ticky about that whole punctuality thing. I wasn't good at it when I was in school, and I'm worse now.
• I left my purse at home.
• I was momentarily excited thinking I still have my cell phone, due to the eerie glow in my tote bag.
• Sadly, it was just my computer.
• At least I remembered my computer.
• I see an ark heading over the horizon out my window.

I weigh in on Eliot Spitzer

Don't go looking for the food in this post. There isn't any. I guess I blog often enough now about stuff other than food that I should really consider renaming the blog. But people, do you know how long it took me to come up with THIS name?

My point being: This whole thing about Eliot Spitzer is sad. I thought it was sad about David Vitter last year, too. It's not about political parties. It's about the destruction of families and poor choices and wasted potential. I do understand why both Spitzer's and Vitter's political opponents take such glee in the ahem, exposure of their extracurricular activities, given each man's pious attitudes. But I want to say: Can't we move past this? That we -- individually and as a society -- are still so joyful at the personal failings of others -- well, it makes me sad.

I heard an NPR call-in show yesterday and one of the guests had been a criminal defense attorney in New York, with experience on Wall Street cases. He just savaged one of the callers, a man from California who protested that while this was a personal failing for Spitzer, it was likely none of our business, in the grand scheme of things.

The attorney said something to the effect of "You don't know what you're talking about," almost that rudely. He went on to say that because Spitzer had been so ruthless in his prosecutions of Wall Street big-shots -- whom the attorney acknowledged were guilty -- that he deserved whatever he got and more. I can't see how anyone deserves the kind of treatment Spitzer is getting, polarizing figure or not.

I will also add, I'm very saddened by the news reports that make light of prostitution at this level, as if it is just a career choice for these women, far different from crack addicts turning tricks in cheap motels. While I'll grant that a woman working for one of the prostitution services like Spitzer was apparently involved with may not be living hand to mouth, it's hard for me to fathom that regarding your body as merchandise to be sold is a positive choice.

Sporadic thoughts on vegetarianism

Please note: Serious navel-gazing to follow. I'm going to try not to veer off into political diatribe, but I'm not sure why you'll care about anything I'm about to write. There. Now, you can't get mad at me if you keep reading.

I've been home sick all day, and aside from checking email a couple times, I haven't done anything particularly productive. I've found myself unable to actually think about anything for a significant amount of time. I seem to be functioning in the brain stem today. [Hungry. Eat. Tired. Lie down. Thirsty. Drink. You get the picture.]

But I've had these fleeting thoughts running through my head -- really for a week now, preceding my current physical state by several days -- and I've been unable to corral or process them. I'm writing them down in hopes of at least capturing them for future evaluation.

I think I've mentioned here that I became vegetarian again the first of the year. I haven't been able to fully nail down why. I just woke up one day and decided I would. Over the past six weeks or so, that's started to bother me. Unlike the first time I was vegetarian [about 4-5 years ago, for about 1 1/2 years], I haven't had any guiding thoughts or reasons behind my actions. I will say, the first reason I became vegetarian then still remains:

I have serious issues with the American meat industry. Yes, the warehousing of animals, their mistreatment and overuse of drugs, and its effects on both animals and humans. Yet, I stopped being vegetarian before and I still maintained my concern on this issue. When I started eating meat again, I ate very little meat whose origin I did not know. I learned a lot about labeling and so-called free-range, organic and naturally produced meat. [These words mean less for meat than they do for other foods, but such labels are at least helpful markers as you try to source your meat sustainably.]

So I didn't find it necessary to maintain my vegetarianism to take a stand for sustainability.

I am increasingly concerned about eating healthfully. I find two somewhat competing claims to be convincing: That a low-saturated fat, high-vegetable, high-whole-grain and moderate-plant-fat consumption diet will aid in cancer and heart disease prevention. And that a low-carb diet helps to maintain your weight and health. I've seen scientific evidence, at least as reported in the media, for each claim. I find it difficult to reconcile the two. The recent study saying that cholesterol doesn't matter much throws everything into disarray in my mind.

So for the moment, I've fallen on the side of low-saturated fat, high-fiber diet. Part of this is personally anecdotal: My body is happier without eating lots of meat.

Two members of my family [you know who you are] will actually ask you, "What else are we having?" if you seat them at a groaning table but fail to include meat in the spread. Yes, I occasionally would like to beat these people about the head and shoulders. NYC sister has for years only eaten lean chicken and turkey, and is a long-time devotee of the South Beach diet. I also frequently wish to beat her about the head and shoulders, because I find it difficult to think in that fashion for every meal.

So I do not wish to be a difficult eater or an insufferable party guest who simply stands in the corner, chewing raw carrots and drinking mineral water all night. I love food. Even though I haven't eaten lots of beef for years, some kinds of dishes are still very attractive to me. I bought a pork tenderloin a couple of weeks ago for a family gathering that we later postponed, and it sits in my freezer, beckoning me to thaw it and try the delicious mustard-based marinade and grilling instructions I found for it.

At the same time, unlike the first time I was vegetarian, I quickly found this time around that even the smell of most meat now seems much too rich for me. For the whole year and a half before, I craved meat whenever I was around it. I even allowed myself a few cheats from time to time: Barbecue, chili dogs and ballpark hot dogs when I was in an official major league park. I know, say what you will about my so-called vegetarianism. It worked for me.

This time, none of that really sounds good. But I still can't give you a good reason why I shouldn't have meat from time to time. When it's more convenient to than not to, for instance. When it's a big family dinner with a traditional favorite. When I find a great new recipe.

So I'm mulling all that over. Your thoughts are welcome....perhaps you will inspire a breakthrough for me.

Now, I'm off to pick up the 2yo. I swear, I love day care, even moreso on days when I am sick than when I am at work. It keeps me sane.

This is brilliant

This video is so brilliant....nicely illustrates the hope and the desire for change that Obama preaches relentlessly. I get it if people don't agree with Obama. He's pretty liberal. I don't get people who don't like him or his message about unity and hope.

Coming Sunday: The baklava update

Short story: I made it, and I like it. Medium story: And I'm changing the recipe next time.

In other FS news: I made lasagna tonight, like I've made approximately 1 million times before, and it sucked. I am sorry to also report that three other people had to suffer through it with me, but they were awfully kind about it. I have some ideas as to why it was so bad, but I want to think about it a little more.

Hopefully I can post on both things tomorrow. There are photos of the baklava!!

Football is genetic, and talking to the hard of hearing, AKA your parents

I keep saying I'm not a mommy blogger, but all that's happened lately is stuff like this. So maybe I am.

Item 1: The 2yo is at a stage where I understand about 90% of what he says. You would get at least half, yourself. But he has a new habit to help me on that 10% that remains incomprehensible gibberish. He gets right up in my face, places his hands on my cheeks to get my attention, and yells whatever the gibberish is. Hahaha. It was funny the first two times. Now, not so much.

Item 2: The 2yo has just been to a few football games [fewer than 10 total and none in the past year] in person and has seen even fewer on TV. Yet he would rather talk about and play football than any other ball game. [Of which he's yet to meet one that he doesn't like, BTW.] But when he DOES watch a football game, it gets his undivided attention. And he acts out every tackle. And he reassures me that the players are all right as they are all getting up. He may understand more about football than his 8yo sister, and she's got a decent grasp on the game.

I have taught him little to none of this. He just knows.

2008 cooking resolutions

Long famous [in my own mind, roll with me here, it's my blog, mmk?] for not making New Year's resolutions, I have accidentally made some this year.

Because I've had a couple of events recently that I just got so frustrated over. When I made up the menus for said events, I was just bored to tears. Now please understand, I know this is a personal issue. I'm not trying to brag, but people rarely go home hungry from my house. The people, they like my food. But I've really gotten into a rut, especially when it comes to events like big dinners or parties.

Two years ago, I bought myself this really nice Chinese cookbook and decided to learn how to use it. It sits on my shelf, gathering dust. I have to do something about this. I can make cheese krispies in my sleep. I need more from my kitchen, people.

Stay tuned.